uttues only take up 38 munutes of your lrfe, If you want to hear how cartoon punks can grow old un style, puck up The Vandals’ recent album, Look What lA/most Stepped In, whuch us fun, ballsy and umagunatuve, all the thungs thus record usn’t. (Doug Johnstone)
ELECTRONICA Anjali Anjali (Wiija) arr vr )r *
Pundits often bemoan the lack of Asians plyung theur trade as footballers un thus country, but almost as few seem to enjoy chart success, bar the odd but of genius from ADE or Cornershop. The multr-talented Anjalr is hardly gomg to kuck-start a trend on her own, but she does provude a wonderful mux of down-tempo s0ul, ambuent strungs and (whusper ut) trip hop. Her warped but hughly meloduc composrtuons are too assertuve to be chull-out tracks, and seem happy to lurk un the dark, unsettlung terrutory that Wuura have uncreaSungly made theur own. The exception us class rebel ’Nebula' — whuch secretly wants to be a full-on trance anthem. Charming.
(James Smart)
REGGAE The Gladiators Something A Gwaan (XII Bis Records)
it *5!
Reggae hasn’t been flav0ur of the month for a very long time now but everyone seems to have a but of a soft spot for it. Albert Gruffuths leads thus band of warruors who have been un the game sunce 1976 and that mught be part of the problem. Thus us a fune album but ut doesn’t have a dustunctuve sugnature. There us no Marley-luke spark or the crazy dub grooves of Lee ’Scratch’ Perry, whuch makes thus pretty anonymous stuff. But ut certaunly does
provude the perfect backung track to a lazy afternoon with a good book or
some other mode of relaxant.
(Henry Northmore)
EXPERIMENTAL Hanayo Gift (Geist Records) ir *
I There’s no denying that Hanayo us a multu-talented and untruguing woman, not only us she a trauned geusha, an accomplushed photographer and a performance artust, she also has obvuous mu5uca| abulity. Gift us the aural equuvalent of her performance art and, whule some tracks are quute beautuful in a strangely dusturbung way, others are
r so leftfueld they are vurtually unlustenable. There’s only so long y0u can lusten to electronic screechings accompanued by vocal wailungs before your patuence wears thun. Gift is German for p0uson, and thus collectuon of collaboratuons Wlll no doubt be the former for some, and the latter to others. (Kursty Knaggs)
7 JAZZ
Sonny Rollins
This Is What I Do (Milestone) at i * t The tenor titan may have turned 70,
but hrs latest album proves that he stull
has plenty to offer. The saxophonust’s Mulestone releases have often been
Singles round-up
This week: Singers in promising Scottish bands ballboy and The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ, Gordon McIntyre and Ewan John, have their say.
Intervrew: Doug Johnstone
Fonda 500 ’Super Chumpanzee’ (The Village) Lo-fr nonsense from Hull. Ewan: ’It’s got some nuce touches, but they're ruunrng rt wuth too many buts.’ Gordon: ’Nuce begunnung, nuce end, but shut muddle. Unfortunately the muddle’s three munutes long, so that’s quute seruous’
Lowgo/d ’Mercury’ (Nude) Thoughtful laud-back guitar tomfoo/ery
E: ’lt's the rught length.’
G: ’Is that the best y0u can come up wuth? The rught length? It's the kund of thung y0u hear on compulatuons that students make.’
E: ’Boo, boo.’
G: 'No, I don’t mean rt luke that. I luke students, honest ’
Badly Drawn Boy ’Once Around The Block’ (Twisted Nerve) Re-re/eased undue whimsy from the man rn the hat.
6: ’I heard thus on the raduo and I thought rt was a bad Jungle. l was so dusappounted when Badly Drawn Boy was not good.’
E: ’l luke thus, ut's one of the best on the LP. If you’re at work, ut’s musuc to get you through the day.’
Melanie C ’If That Were Me’ (Virgin) Sporty in mellow mood.
G: 'Someone should wrute her a good song cos she’s got a lovely vouce, but she's tued to thus mainstream pop star thung.’
E: ’I’d luke to hear ballboy’s versuon of ut, ut's got great chords.’
G: ’We wouldn’t be able to work out the chords.’
SINGLE OF THE FORTN/GHT: Yo La Tengo ’Dane/ectro EP’ (Matador) Instrumental ambience from American indie veterans.
G: ‘Thus us beautuful. It’s not anythung dufferent from what they’ve done before, but ut’s jUSI lovely.’
E: ’Yeah ut’s great. I’m a huge fan of theurs. I would put thus on my quuet go-to- bedtape/
Scarlet Division ’Sundial’ (Sony) Piss-poor corporate indie with Jamie Oliver drumming.
G: ’That's Just shute, innit? Fucking shute.’
E: ’Naked Munce.’
G: 'If he cooked as well as he drummed there’d be dead punters all over the world.’
The Stacy Effect ’Buzz Ki/l’ (Path) Ropy local rock ’n’ roll.
E: ’That’s vergung on the worst thung we’ve heard thus evenung. It’s awful.’
G: ’It's fuckung rubbush and they should give up and never play a note agaun.’
E: ’The only good thung about this us the lkea furnuture on the cover.’
Sade ’By Your Side’ (Epic) Irrelevant dance mix from the ever-young sou/ster.
G: ’I love her and if she ever wants to come out on a date she can. The song's push though. It would probably be better uf rt hadn’t been remuxed.’
E: ’It’s not in my league, I don’t understand it.’
I The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ play Potterrow, Edinburgh, Thu 30 Nov and 73th Note, Glasgow, Tue 5 Dec; bal/boy play The Lighthouse, Glasgow, Sat 9 Dec and their third El? Girls Are Better Than Boys, is due for release early 2007.
Audun Kleive
patchy, but this one huts the mark right from the start, an exuberant calypso named ’Salvador'. Tributes to Harold Vuck and Charles Mungus are an unusual departure for hum, but both are urresustuble. In more characteristuc fashuon, he exhumes three tunes from the 305, and turns them unto polished gems. Clufton Anderson (trombone), the excellent Stephen Scott (puano) and Bob Cranshaw (bass) make up the band, wuth Jack DeJohnette and Perry Wilson sharing drum dutues. Mighty playung and mughty umpressuve.
(Kenny Mathueson)
notably through the work of artists Iuke
pianist Bugge Wesseltoft and sunger Sudsel Endresen (whose new album,
Undertow, us also on Jazzland). In thus album (his second), drummer and
percussuonust Audun Kleuve and hrs collaborators generate an evolving serues of insustent electronuc soundscapes. It features three tracks pretty much as laid down un real tume in the studio, and two more recorded in concert wuth Jan Bang’s luve samplung, which Kleive subsequently remuxed, a process he calls decomposituon. (Kenny Mathueson)
, CHILL-OUT COMPILATION
3 Various Artists Winter Chill 2 (Hed Kandi) * i ‘k ‘k t
This double album us a fantastuc selectuon of new and used tracks whuch
' is the musical equuvalent of sinkrng unto a hot bath at the end of a particularly
Generator X (Jazzland) * it it
Norway has always been a razz stronghold, and the Oslo Underground has emerged as a crucial focal point for jazz-meets-beats style experimentation. The Jazzland label has been a focal point for much of that development,
record reviews MUSIC
stressful day The sutcessful combunatuon of funk, dub, soul, ,a.".‘ and ambuent sounds make thus a must- have album Highlights unt lude Handsome Boy Modelling Schools The Truth’, featuring the smoky totals o: Moloko's Rousun Murphy, and Hefner's 'Drve Into You Lue back and let the 29 tracks wash over you and, Just luke ut says on the label, you \\ull feel completer (‘hulled (Kursty Knaggs)
BLUES R.L. Burnside
Wish lWas In Heaven Sitting Down (Fat Possum) at w ‘c
Thus us the third album from the Mussuss‘uppu septuagenaruan sunce hrs collaboratuon wuth Jon Spencer And The Blues Explosuon un I997 exposed hum to a \ivorldwude audience, and ut us nothung short of a gem The beatung heart of this record is traditional, gritty blues guutar and Bur'ns‘ude's mournful growl, whule hup hop breaks, turntable scratches and gentle wur'lutxer unelodues add to the mood Few of bus peers are able to dusplay such range un theur composmons and arrangements There’s drama, tragedy and a healthy dose. of comedy here as R I_ leads the parade Wrth a cast of faruuuly members and fruends prov:dung the funky backbeat (Mark Robertson)
Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues
Orchestra Hop The Wag (Warner) it it i
If you luke a but of boogue-woogue puano, Jools us your man Wutlu hrs huge band, he rattles through old and new R&B tunes, guaranteed to get even the most arthrutuc toe a-tappung. However, the man's no sunger. Sure he’s adequate, but on tracks luke ’Don’t Need No Job’ you know that the merely enjoyable c0uld suzzle wuth the rught blues vocalust. That grupe asude you’ll fund duversuons from regular collaborator Sam Brown whule Jamuroquau’s Jay Kay trues a Iuttle ska styling on 'In The Mood For Love’ Tught, professuonal, but a Iuttle soulless. (Louusa Pearson)
HIP HOP Wu-Tang Clan The Wu (Loud) t i *-
Wuth OI’ Durty Bastard behind bars, The Wu lacks some of the lughter lyrrcal lunacy of last album Forever It clocks un at half the suze of that IOO-munute epuc and us all the better for ut Sometumes RZA’s puoneerung experumentatuon gets wearung but un the maun, thus us a rough but rewarding rude. The least consustent or unstantly appealung record they have ever made, thus crew, responsible for over fufteen albums un the last four years, are stulI brummung wrth ideas, even if the execution here us not always fully realused. Perhaps a reflectuon on the diffused state of the house of Wu. (Mark Robertson)
' ‘ STAR RATINGS
fir 1' t t 1' Unmussable
* i t it Very ood
1: 1t 1t Wort a shot
* * Below average
it You've been warned
30 Nov—14 Dec 2000 THE lIST 51